March 7, 2018 | UHCL Staff
With the success of Alvin Community College’s newly-forged partnership to offer courses on the University of Houston-Clear Lake Pearland Campus beginning in fall 2017, Cynthia Griffith, vice president of instruction at ACC said the college is expanding its course offerings.
“Upon receiving accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in December 2017, we are now able to offer ACC students almost the full complement of courses toward an associate’s degree in general studies,” Griffith said. “There are two science lab courses that we aren’t yet able to offer until construction of the science building is complete, but as soon as it’s done and we receive UHCL’s approval to rent those labs, we’ll offer them as well.”
Construction is ongoing at UHCL Pearland Campus to complete a $24.6 million Health Sciences and Classroom Building that will encompass 69,539 square feet across three stories. Scheduled to open in spring 2019, this facility will allow the university to increase enrollment of current health science programs, specifically the RN to-BSN and Licensed Professional Counselor Certifications programs. The university also plans to open a satellite operation of its Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
Griffith said that when ACC first started offering courses on the UH-Clear Lake Pearland Campus, they only offered the high-enrollment courses. “Before we received this accreditation, we could only offer 49 percent of the courses toward the degrees we offered,” she said. “It takes 60 semester credit hours to obtain an associate’s degree, and we could only offer 27 semester credit hours on an offsite campus. Now, pending the completion of the two science labs, we will be able offer 100 percent of the courses at UHCL Pearland Campus.”
Griffith said this accreditation gives students the opportunity to complete an entire associate’s degree on the UHCL-Pearland Campus and make a smooth transition into the university’s baccalaureate program. “This degree gives them the most options to move directly into different programs at UHCL Pearland Campus,” she said. “We always talk about seamless transitions, but this truly would be as seamless as it could be. Students are already familiar with the campus and the advisers, and the UHCL adviser is just down the hall from the ACC adviser. It makes things extremely easy for students to continue their education.”
Currently, Griffith said, she is working on the creation of a schedule of courses that offers students all the classes they’ll need to complete an associate’s in general studies. “This year we’ve focused on the freshman-level courses, and next year we’re focusing on the sophomore-level courses,” she said. “By 2019, we hope to have the complete schedule available for students to begin enrolling.”
Griffith said that ACC was proud of its connection with UHCL Pearland Campus. “We have always worked very closely together, but this partnership offers residents in Pearland great options to continue their education.”
For more information about enrolling at UHCL Pearland Campus, visit www.uhcl.edu/pearland.
